Speedpaint 29 - Angry Gorilla

Today's speedpaint is a stern looking gorilla from Disney's Animal Kingdom. I find the human similarities in apes and monkeys fascinating. Their facial expressions especially. Perhaps because of how expressive they can be, I couldn't help but feel bad for this guy. He was looking out at the people passing by with such a fierce and unhappy expression, like he couldn't put his guard down with everyone around. Or maybe gorillas are like this in the wild too? In any case, it makes me think about the implications of keeping animals in captivity. Not that I'm anti-zoo or anything. They allow people to view and appreciate animals that they wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to see and I enjoy sketching zoo animals.

My clock crashed when I was working on this one, so I don't have an exact time but I think it took me about an hour and 20 minutes. Photoshop CS3.


Here's a bonus speedpaint. A sheet draped on the floor, 16 minutes.

Speedpaint 28 - Thanksgiving Charly

Another Christmas present. This one's for Charly's owner. :D

Photoshop CS3, about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Charly the Shih Tzu was also the subject of my very first speed painting attempt earlier in the year.

Speedpaint 27 - Thanksgiving Tiki

This is a painting of my parent's cat, Tiki. Like the last picture I posted, this is also going to be a Christmas gift. I got caught up in the details and ended up spending about two and half hours on it (I broke my own speedpaint rule of "Work at 50% and never zoom in", so it's super detailed even at 200% zoom).

In case any one is wondering, I should clarify that these paintings are done primarily for practice. I haven't lost my mind or given up comics or completely overhauled my art style or anything like that. Just trying to challenge myself and pick up some new techniques to use in the future on actual work.

For the past couple months, I've been focusing very intensely on a new graphic novel pitch. I've put a great deal of work into it so far: research, detailed chapter-by-chapter synopsis, in-depth character descriptions and histories, mountains of sketches, and character designs. Thing is, that's all behind-the-scenes stuff that I can't share. I have one more chapter to go on the synopsis, and the ending has been set since almost the beginning, so it's just a matter of fleshing out the final part. Then I can move onto scripting and storyboarding the first chapter. This new story is something I've been thinking of since last year, so it's really exciting to see it all coming together. I should have a lot more to show in the upcoming months. :)

Speedpaint 26 - Aunt Carol

This started out with the intention of being a speed paint, but became a "slow paint" when I realized that I'd need to be more meticulous to get an accurate likeness. I've been picking away at it slowly for about the last week. I believe I put about five or six hours into it total. It's a Christmas present for my Aunt Carol, of her and her new boyfriend (reffed from a photo). She wanted it 8.5"x11" size, which also made it more time-consuming (previous speed paints were done 4"x6").

The most difficult part of the picture was probably the hand. I don't usually have too much trouble drawing hands, but attempting to depict one with color and volume without the help of an underdrawing or lineart...very frustrating. It went through a couple revisions.

It's probably obvious that realistic painted portraits are not my area of expertise (this is my first attempt since...high school, I think?) but hopefully Aunt Carol likes it.

Speedpaint 25 - Tiger 2

I downloaded some new texture brushes the other day. Thought I'd do a close-up of a tiger to figure out some fur painting techniques. Haven't figured out a technique that works yet, but it's a start. I'll keep working at it.

This time I painted the figure before the background. I wanted to put all my time and effort into the tiger since he was the primary focus of the composition. I used less saturated colors on the background to try to get the tiger to "pop" more.

Photoshop CS3, 59 minutes.

Speedpaint 24 - Tiger

For this speedpaint, I tried a different approach. As always, I work from back to front, blocking in the background before moving onto the figure. The difference is that this time, I started with the lightest colors and built up to the darkest shades (sort of like using watercolors), whereas in previous pieces, I started with my darkest colors first, and worked up to my lightest colors. As a result, the finished piece has a slightly more pastel color palette.

Photoshop CS3, 45 minutes.

Speedpaint 23 - Komodo Dragon

Finding a method for quickly painting reptilian scales proved difficult, so this is yesterday and today's speed paint. I did the background and basic body structure on the Komodo dragon yesterday, and then some retouching and scale texture today. I believe in total it took about an hour and a half. I'm not quite satisfied with the results, but that's not the point of these exercises. It's to expose myself to new challenges.

I think I'm in a rut with the greens and browns. I'll try to work some different colors into the next one.

Speedpaint 22 - Crow on Turquoise

New speedpainting. Going to try to get back into the habit of doing one a day again. :)

It was my birthday on the 9th. I turned 28. I went to Animal Kingdom to celebrate, where I encountered this crow. It looks like he's standing on water, but it's actually a solid object that's been painted to look like water.

Photoshop CS3, 1 hour, 9 minutes
Soundtrack: Joe Hisaishi - Studio Ghibli Concert 2008; Ghibli to Issho

Speedpaint 20 - Momoko

Tribute to Momoko. She loved to play in packing peanuts.

Photoshop CS3, 56 minutes.
Soundtrack: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Speedpaint 18 and 19 - Sea Lion and Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret found wandering around at Sea World.

Photoshop CS3, 35 minutes.
Soundtrack: FINAL FANTASY SONG BOOK mahoroba





California Sea Lion at NY Central Park Zoo.

Photoshop CS3, 35 minutes.
Soundtrack: Seiken Densetsu 2 OST (sorry about the constant clicking noise - livestream kept refreshing a banner for some reason)

Speedpaint 16 and 17 - Monkey and 4th of July

This is a Snow monkey aka Japanese Macaque from the Central Park Zoo in NYC.

Photoshop CS3, 46 minutes.
Soundtrack: Donkey Kong Country 1 OST






This speed paint is incomplete. The scene I was working on was filled with wall-to-wall people (it was taken at Crane's Roost this year on the Fourth of July). My meticulous approach to the human figures, and all the color variation in clothing slowed me down immensely. After an hour, I still had a great deal of the scene left to do, and I had lots of work to do that day, so I called it quits.

Photoshop CS3, 53 minutes.
Soundtrack: Chrono Cross OST

Speedpaint 15 - Tiki

This is my parent's cat, Tiki. I wasn't quite able to capture her likeness or the blanket texture, but given the time limit, I think it's a satisfactory first attempt. Tiki, by the way, is not a particularly cuddly cat. Don't be fooled by her cute sleeping pose. :)

Photoshop CS3, 57 minutes.
Soundtrack: ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi' NANA and OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (from Nana)

Speedpaint 14 - Goat

I love goats! :)

Photoshop CS3, 1 hour, 9 minutes.
Soundtrack: Music from Earthbound (Mother 2)

Speedpaint 13 - Still Life

This one was loaded with details, so I broke it up into two sessions. Yesterday morning, I painted the background using a soft round brush to give everything a soft focus, and today I came back to finish the foreground details using my standard detailer brush (hardness at 100% and a hint of noise texture) and a bit of the airbrush.

Part 1:
Photoshop CS3, 48 minutes.

Soundtrack: Brazil Classics, Vol. 1: Beleza Tropical (a favorite from my childhood)


Part 2:
Photoshop CS3, 47 minutes.
Soundtrack: Juuni Kokki OST

Treasure - WIP

Here's the next piece I am working on for my portfolio. This one will be getting a black and white treatment rather than color.



By the way, for any artists who want to take part in the daily speedpainting exercises I've been doing, here's the photos so far. Aside from the photo of the dog (speedpaint 10, which was taken by its owner), they are all my photos. I've been selecting them based on various challenges (fur, foliage, water, reflections, interiors, lighting, etc). If you decide to participate, I recommend focusing in on a portion of the photo rather then trying to paint the whole thing. Have fun! :)

Speedpaint 12 - Hotel

Photoshop CS3, 1 hour, 13 minutes.
Soundtrack: EVO- Symphony (Arranged Synth)

This speedpaint has the longest running time yet. I'm not sure if it's because I'm unconsciously getting more meticulous in my buildup, or if it's because of all sharp angles and details found in manmade structures. In any case, it took awhile, and that's with me rushing through the second column to finish it. Something interesting to note on this one is that I decided to do a line drawing at the beginning rather than jumping right into colors. I found I was making a lot mistakes with proportions on some of the previous speedpaints. Doing a drawing first helped reduce errors, because it allowed me to get a feel for the entire picture and quickly make adjustments to the spacing of objects.

Regarding the soundtrack, it comes from a little known SNES game called E.V.O.: Search for Eden. You start off as a humble fish, and as you eat and fight your way through stages, your character evolves. It's really a wonderful simulation of evolution in a platforming game. And if the music sounds reminiscent of Dragon Quest, it's because it's by Dragon Quest composer, Koichi Sugiyama. :)

Here's the painting demo video:

Speedpaint 11 - New York Subway

Photoshop CS3, 64 minutes.
Soundtrack: Persona 3 Original Soundtrack


Part 1:



Part 2:

Speedpaint 9 and 10 - Stairway and Dog

Speedpaint 10 - Dog
Photoshop CS3, 53 minutes.
Soundtrack: Square Enix Battle Tracks Vol.1

A friend's dog. I believe he's a Shiba inu, very handsome dog. Painting the short hair texture was a new challenge.





Speedpaint 9 - Stairway
Photoshop CS3, 34 minutes.
Soundtrack: drammatica -The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura-

A stairway at the UCF arena.

Speedpaint 7 and 8 - Heron and Swan

Speedpaint 7 - Great Blue Heron
Photoshop CS3, 36 minutes.
Soundtrack: Seiken Densetsu 2 - Secret Of Mana +






Speedpaint 8 - Black Swan
Photoshop CS3, 40 minutes.
Soundtrack: CREID Xenogears Arranged

Speedpaint 6 - Ducks on the Water

Photoshop CS3, 44 minutes.
Soundtrack: Genso Suikoden Vocal Collection ~Faraway Star Echoes Of Love~